Mockford leaves SCA to return to teaching

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The Southland Cricket Association are going to take some time to review the administration structure of the sport after the resignation of general manager Ian Mockford.

Mockford has been with the organisation for seven years, firstly as a development officer, and in recent years as the organisation's general manager. He will finish as general manager on Monday and will return to teaching. However, he will stay on with the organisation on a contract basis to help with various events in the current season including the New Zealand-West Indies women's games in Invercargill in March, the Otago Volts-Auckland Aces visit in March and the SCA 150th celebrations on February 22 and 23.

SCA chairman Gerry Ward said Mockford's resignation gave the board an opportunity to review the various roles within the organisation before making any decisions around when and in what capacity he would be replaced. .

Ward said the decision making would be based on ensuring the sport was financially sustainable in the future. He said if they did not address that now they could run into problems later if even a small reduction in income arose.

"Here's our opportunity to take a look at cricket again and make sure the administration side of cricket is a sustainable entity, which sports codes have to do from time to time."

Ward said they would probably seek advice from Sport Southland and they have talked with Invercargill Licensing Trust general manager Greg Mulvey about reviewing the organisation's administration costs. The Invercargill Licensing Trust provides a bulk of the Southland Cricket Association's income.

Ward paid tribute to the work that Mockford had put into cricket in the south during his time in the role. "He's got a big heart for cricket."

Ward said that they were now getting regular international women's fixtures at Queens Park and two well run South Island Primary Schools tournaments were just two of the many things Mockford had done. He had also been a driving force behind getting more cricket played on grass pitches by procuring funding for an extra grass wicket at Queens Park and two at Hamilton Park in Gore.